


The Bare Bones B

by fanboi214



Series: The Bare Bones (B) [1]
Category: Bones, Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Crossover, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-10
Updated: 2014-01-15
Packaged: 2018-01-08 05:08:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1128702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanboi214/pseuds/fanboi214
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Bare Bones B<br/>Fandoms: Bones, Avengers (Movieverse)<br/>Pairings: Booth/Brennan<br/>Ratings: PG-13<br/>Warnings: None<br/>Synopsis: Brennan is called in to handle a high profile case, but things take an unexpected turn when she insists that the remains aren’t quite human<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Bare Bones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brennan finds that the remains she's been called to examine aren't strictly human.  
> Optional Prompt: Fan

“I fail to see why it was necessary for us to rush all the way across the country,” Temperance Brennan proclaimed as she sloshed through the muddied forest.

“Because the local authorities think the remains they found may belong to the missing senator, and they need you to confirm the ID.” Booth replied as they schlepped over towards the crime scene.

“I am aware of the facts of the case, Booth. I simply don’t understand why they necessitate our presence here. There must be a number of competent forensic anthropologist who reside much closer to this region, and are capable of doing a simple dental comparison.”

“He’s an important guy, Bones. They want the best on the case and we’re the best.”

“Well technically I am the best. You are an above average to excellent agent, but there are likely other investigators who are equal to if not beyond your abilities.” Brennan noted.

“You always know how to sweet talk a guy, Bones.”

“I was merely providing a truthful interpretation of your statement,” Brennan shrugged as the couple crossed under the police tape and approached the remains.  
Booth let out a low sharp whistle. “What the hell happened? He take a shower in a tub of acid?” Booth had seen a lot of weird, disgusting corpses in his day but this was one of the worst. It was a man in suit, or at least it used to be, splayed out neatly in the woods. All of the tissue had been burned clear off of the skull, the rest of the figure seemed to be splashed here and there with acid, leaving scattered burns here and there about the rest of his body.

“This is not the senator,” Brennan declared less than a minute after setting her kit down.

“You can tell that already?” Booth asked.

“Well I assume the senator was human. This body is not.” Brennan said simply.

“What do you mean it’s not human?” Booth said incredulously. “What else could he be?”

“I don’t feel comfortable speculating on that, but this body is definitely not that of a human being. It has a brow that is far too pronounced. It’s ulna and radius appear  
to be fused above the elbow and fissures in the jaw seem to indicate that it fused together later in life, much like a child’s skull.”

“They’re called Skrull,” a steady authoritative voice rang out from behind the pair.

Booth looked to his side and saw a bald man with an eye patch in long black trench coat. He seemed to have come out of thin air. “Hey buddy, why don’t you back up and let the doctor do her work.”

Ignoring Booth, he took a step towards Brennan and continued. “The name is Nicholas Fury. And what you are looking at is an extraterrestrial life form. One that specializes in shape shifting and very well may be slowly compromising the highest levels of national, if not global security.”

“That seems highly unlikely,” Brennan said nonplused, as she got to her feet.

Fury snapped his fingers and a large jet suddenly appeared behind him. “Whoa!” Booth exclaimed in shock. “Something tells me we're not in Kansas anymore” He moved over to examine the jet.

Meanwhile Brennan and Fury continued their conversation. “It also seemed highly unlikely that a Norse God would lead an alien invasion in the heart of New York City a year ago, and yet it happened.”

“That is a valid point.” She nodded.

“Follow me, doctor.” He nodded towards the aircraft. “You're about to help us save the world.”

"See Booth," Temperance called out as Fury ushered them into the aircraft. "I was right. We wouldn't have to come all the way out here just to ID a body."

Booth nodded a little more concerned with the top secret invisible jet he was boarding. "Don't dally," Fury's voice snapped back. "The Avengers hate to be kept waiting." 

"Avengers!" Booth remarked.  
***  
Booth was in absolute awe as they walked through the corridors of the multi-billion dollar aircraft. Brennan for her part retained her quiet observational demeanor as Fury led them into the lab room. On the table lay a corpse of what the doctor could only assume was one of these 'skrulls' in their natural state. A man was sitting over the body studying it with a furtive glance, when the others entered the room he swiveled around to face them. "Doctor Stark," Brennan said with a nod. 

"Temperance," Tony said getting to his feet and approaching her. "You are even prettier than I remember." 

"And you are more or less the same," Temperance said "Aside from the glowing motorized heart and the saving the world multiple times." 

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Booth exclaimed "You know Iron Man!"

"I met Dr. Stark several years ago at a medical conference," Brennan replied. 

"Wait a minute, you're friends with Iron Man and you never mentioned it before?" Booth blinked. 

"Who do you think recommended her to Fury?" Tony chuckled. 

"I appreciate that. However to be more precise we aren't friends, more like acquaintances.=," Brennan corrected. 

"You wound me Dr. Brennan." Tony retorted with a smirk. 

"Hey," Booth whispered to Brennan. "Do you know Captain America too?" 

"What?" Brennan cocked her head at Booth. "He was frozen in a block of ice for half a century. How would I know him?" 

"I'm sorry," Tony said taking steps towards them. "You are standing with one of the most brilliant minds in the world today, not to mention one of on the most handsome faces and you're asking about the glorified tin soldier?" 

Booth squirmed in space, somewhat uncomfortably. "Well I was in the army and..." Booth shrugged. 

"Military men," Tony shook his head "They're all the same." 

"This creature's anatomy is absolutely fascinating." Brennan called out from the medical table, where she apparently had slipped off to examine the remains. 

Fury just stood back and suppressed a chuckle.


	2. Imitation of Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fury is hoping Brennan's medical expertise can help him out of a sticky situation with a few of his Avengers and their Skrull counterparts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair Warning: I haven't betaed this yet and just finished it around 1 AM so... might be some typos.

Dr. Brennan was absolutely fascinated by the remains before her. She spent the past hour, poking, prodding, cutting, and examining the alien skeleton in every way possible. Booth had spent the past two hours sitting in a corner and making faces in a mirror. Brennan had occasionally exchanged some scientific mumbo jumbo with Dr. Stark and Dr. Banner but for the most part everything was above Booth’s head. 

“Make any progress, Dr. Brennan?” Nick Fury asked without missing a step as he strode into the room. 

“A great deal,” Brennan proudly announced looking up from the corpse. “Did you know that this skeleton is not made of bone? Not in the purest sense. It seems to be composed out of some sort of cartilaginous cells with ossified cell walls, which would explain how they’re able to shift their very anatomy.” 

“You sound excited,” Fury chuckled. 

“She is,” Booth replied from his corner. 

“This is extremely interesting.” Bennan nodded, “I only wish I was able to examine a living specimen.” 

“Well then you’re in luck, doctor.” Fury said turning and exiting. 

“You have a specimen?” Brennan exclaimed swiftly moving after the SHIELD director. 

“Whoa, wait? There’s an alien on board?!” Booth replied scurrying after them. 

Tony and Bruce laughed and exchanged glances. “First alien,” Bruce began, “Always exciting.” Tony nodded in agreement and then headed after them. “Where are you going?” Bruce asked. 

“You kidding? Those two are the most entertainment I’ve had in a month.” Stark replied. After a moment or two of reflection Banner followed after him. 

***  
Fury led Booth and Brennan down a long metal hallway, their footsteps echoing behind them. Stark and Banner brought up the rear of the party, happy to merely spectate. “So are we talking like little green men here?” Booth asked with a mix of shock and excitement. 

Fury didn’t deign to answer. Instead he just nodded at Natasha Romanov, who stood at strict attention before a large metal door. “Agent Romanov,” He nodded “I take it our friends are where they are supposed to be.” 

The Black Widow stepped to the side saying firmly, “Yes, sir.”  
The doors slid open to reveal... Clinton Barton completely naked in a glass box. “Whoa!” Booth said throwing a hand up to block Clint’s private parts from view. “I don’t know who’s idea of a joke this is...” Booth began. However when he averted his eyes he was met with... Clinton Barton completely naked in a different glass box. “Really?” Booth winced. 

Brennan meanwhile seemed not at all flustered by the nudity before her. She was, however, very intrigued by the fact there was not one but two Clint Barton’s in this room. “These men are identical.” She said astonished as she looked from one holding cell to the next. “How is that possible? Are they twins?” 

“One of them is one of our agent, Mr. Clint Barton.” Fury said. “The other is a skrull who is impersonating him.”

“Barton,” Booth cleared his throat still trying desperately to find somewhere to place his eyes. “From the battle of New York?” 

“That’d be me.” One of the Barton’s replied, smiling weekly. 

“No. That’d be me,” the other Barton replied.

“Great. Why aren’t they wearing clothes?” Booth asked incredulously. 

“Any proper examination would have to be done without clothing, Booth. There’s no need to be so puritanical.” Brennan waved off her partner’s objections. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Booth groaned turning away from the Hawkeyes to find... more nudity. LOTS more. On the otherside stood a naked blonde behemoth and across from him was yet another identical clone. “Oh, come on!” 

“And I see you’ve met Thor,” Fury nodded to the caged men on the other side. 

“Greetings mortals,” the men said in unison waving to the two newcomers.

“Gang’s all here,” Stark said with a smirk. 

“All?” Booth said clearing his throat.

“Pretty sure that’s everyone,” Tony nodded. “Why? Expecting someone else?” 

“Hmmm? Oh, no, no.” Booth replied clearing his throat. Shuffling his feet, he glanced around the room. 

Meanwhile Temperance had made her way over towards the Asgardian and his imitator. She examined them with scientific precision, as Fury stood behind her. “Thor accompanied Agent Barton on a mission to invade what we suspected was a Skrull compound in South America. Something went wrong on the mission. They sent up a distress call but when we got to the rendezvous point...” Fury explained. 

“Double vision,” Dr. Banner finished. 

“We were hoping you might be able to help us determine who’s the real deal, and who is our skrull.” Fury finished. 

Brennan was silent a moment longer. She studied the Thors and then paced back over to the Hawkeyes. “These two are much smaller than the other two,” Brennan blurted out. 

“What?” Clint commented. 

“The doctor figured out Thor is taller than me,” The other Clint snarked. 

Banner and Stark where practically giggling in the corner watching Booth struggling to appear nonchalant, his eyes darting about the room anxiously. “Look at him,” Tony whispered “He’s looking for the Rogers” 

Brennan continued to look over Clint, as a blush slowly crept into his cheeks. “Thor has considerable more mass then him,” She elaborated. “He’s taller. His muscles are much, much larger. The genital region alone is...” 

“Whoa!” both Bartons cried in unison. “Gettin’ a little personal there.” 

“Oh, you have nothing to be embarrassed about Mr. Barton. I’m sure your penis is of a perfectly average size for a man your height, if not slightly larger. It’s simply that Thor’s is so absurdly large that yours is smaller.” 

Both Clint and his clone seemed notably embarrassed. Thor on the other hand seemed to be puffing up his already sizable chest. A certain awkward silence had fallen over the entire room. Banner leaned in to whisper to Tony, “Is she always this... blunt.” 

“She used to be worse,” Tony laughed. 

“Ummm, Bones.” Booth cleared his throat. “What exactly is the point you’re getting at?” 

“Mr. Barton and Mr.... Thor here have to have a different mass because of the notable discrepancy in their size. However if a Skrull has enough mass to take the form of Thor then they have to be hiding that mass somewhere when they’re in a smaller form like Mr. Barton. I would theorize that they have direct more of their mass inward to their skeletal structure in creating denser ostial cells in a smaller form and a more porous skeletal structure in enhanced forms.” Bones remarked. 

“That’s my girl!” Bones walked over and slapped her on the back. “So what’s the next step?” 

“We run a bone density test, the Clint with the greatest bone density is likely the clone and the opposite is true for Thor,” She explained. 

“Director Fury,” A voice called from the doorway. The instant he heard it Booth recognized that voice. That was the one, the only, Steve Rogers. Snapping to strictest attention he swiveled about and saw the all American corn fed blonde soldier standing in the doorway. His jaw would be on the floor if he hadn’t automatically snapped into military mode. “You’re needed on the bridge, sir.” 

Fury nodded towards Brennan. “Run whatever tests you need to, doctor. Just try not to hack my men into itty bits.” With that he headed out the door. 

“Captain America, sir, it is an honor and privilege to meet you, sir.” Booth blurted out. “I would like to thank you for saving out asses in the battle of New York.”

“At ease soldier,” Steve said with a smile. “And there’s no need to thank me. I was just doing my job.” With that Captain America, turned and followed after Fury. 

“God,” Tony muttered grimly, “They’re perfect for each other.” 

***

“This is not possible.” Brennan exclaimed with annoyance tossing the test results on the table. 

“It was a nice try,” Dr. Banner responded in an attempt to console her.

“What does it say, Bones?” Booth called over from the other side of the table, where he was seated next to Captain America himself. 

“They are identical.” Brennan responded confused “Both copies have the same bone density, the same weight, the same overall mass, the same volume. It’s... it’s not possible.” 

“Don’t beat yourself up,” Bruce reiterated “We ran a whole battery of tests on them when they first got here. No matter what we look at the result are always identical.” 

“I’m running the tests again,” Brennan said as she stood. “They cannot be identical if the specimens are not.” As she spoke Brennan walked out of the room, Bruce following after. 

Booth’s ears perked up, speaking aloud “Unless they ARE the same person.” 

“What?” Rogers asked. 

“We’ve been assuming one is the copy and one is the real deal. What if they’re BOTH copies.” 

“I’m not sure I follow.” 

“Think about it. Say these shapeshifters caught Barton and Thor invading their complex. They tried to stop them but they couldn’t get to them before they sounded a warning to you guys. Now if the shapeshifters catch them before you get there they can’t just send duplicates to you claming nothing happened because you’d be suspicious of them. But if they send two duplicates for each hero, you assume at least one is the genuine article and wind up taking four enemies into your ship.” Booth said lighting up. 

“You’re a tactical genius.” 

“What? No,” Booth said dumbfounded. 

“We should tell Director Fury,” Rogers nodded. 

“Right away,” Booth agreed. He got to his feet and began heading to the door and that when it all went black. 

***

The next thing Booth remembered he was tied up and stripped down to his underwear in some cold miscellaneous warehouse basement. Two his left was Captain America, also in his skivvies with his arms and legs tied. To his right were Barton and Thor were in a similar position. Looking forward Booth saw himself and Rogers. “Son of a bitch,” Booth grumbled. All around the room stood what Booth could only assume were Skrulls in their natural form, large, green and very well armed. 

“Remember,” The Rogers Skrull said firmly to the Booth Skrull. “The mission is most important. Don’t worry about me.” 

“Of Course,” The Booth Skrull replied. “But be safe, regardless.” He leaned forward and planted a kiss on the Rogers Skrull. 

“Whoa!” Booth muttered. 

“We’re pretty sure those two skrulls are dating,” Clint replied dully. “Also who are you?” 

“Agent Seely Booth, I’m with the FBI.” Booth shimmied a bit to try and face them. “Nice to meet you.”  
Thor and the Captain seemed caught in their own conversation. “You can’t be mad at me,” Rogers whispered “That’s not even me. It’s a clone.” 

“I never stated that I was mad,” Thor replied stiffly. 

“Captain Rogers,” Booth said clearing his throat “I know these are pretty weird situation but I wanted to say it’s an honor to meet you and...” 

“One second, son.” Rogers replied, dismissively. “I’m kind of in the middle of something.” 

“Lover’s quarrel.” Clint whispered. 

“Wait!? You’re telling me they’re...” 

“That is correct. However, no one know about it.” Thor replied. 

“Everyone knows about it,” Clint whispered to Booth.


End file.
